State should support return of Czechs from abroad, conference hears

An estimated 200,000 Czechs have left the country since 1989 and there
could be up to 2.2 million people around the world of Czech origin. Experts
at a conference of the EU’s Re-turn scheme said efforts should be made to
tap the potential of Czechs living abroad and that their return to the
country should be supported, the Czech News Agency said. Tomáš Grulich,
the chairman of the Senate committee for Czechs abroad, said research had
shown that such people wished to return; he said they were brave people who
had to establish themselves abroad and that their loss was to the
country’s detriment. The Czech Republic is one of seven countries
involved in the Re-turn scheme.